dish, and the hunters will spend whole nights at the destructive sport,
staking their most valuable articles, powder and shot.

It has been remarked by some writers that the aboriginal inhabitants of
America are deficient in passion for the fair sex. This is by no means
the case with the Crees; on the contrary, their practice of seducing
each other's wives, proves the most fertile source of their quarrels.
When the guilty pair are detected, the woman generally receives a severe
beating, but the husband is, for the most part, afraid to reproach the
male culprit until they get drunk together at the fort; then the
remembrance of the offence is revived, a struggle ensues, and the affair
is terminated by the loss of a few handfuls of hair. Some husbands,
however, feel more deeply the injury done to their honour, and seek
revenge even in their sober moments. In such cases it is not uncommon
for the offended party to walk with great gravity up to the other, and
deliberately seizing his gun, or some other article of value to break it
before his face. The adulterer looks on in silence, afraid to make any
attempt to save his property. In this respect, indeed, the Indian
character seems to differ from the European, that an Indian, instead of
letting his anger increase with that of his antagonist, assumes the
utmost coolness, lest he should push him to extremities.

Although adultery is sometimes punished amongst the Crees in the manner
above described, yet it is no crime, provided the husband receives a
valuable consideration for his wife's prostitution. Neither is chastity
considered as a virtue in a female before marriage, that is, before she
becomes the exclusive property of one hunter.

The Cree women are not in general treated harshly by their husbands, and
possess considerable influence over them. They often eat, and even get
drunk, in consort with the men; a considerable portion of the labour,
however, falls to the lot of the wife. She makes the hut, cooks, dresses
the skins, and for the most part, carries the heaviest load: but, when
she is unable to perform her task, the husband does not consider it
beneath his dignity to assist her. In illustration of this remark, I may
quote the case of an Indian who visited the fort in winter. This poor
man's wife had lost her feet by the frost, and he was compelled, not
only to hunt, and do all the menial offices himself, but in winter to
drag his wife with their stock of furniture